Thank A Vet

Sports are an outlet for many things. A rough day or week, family issues, or even just to escape the real world for a few innings, quarters, or halves. However, the real world is still very real. Sometimes we forget that.

Wars still erupt all over the world. Lives are lost. Families are burdened with long times away from family members, or worse. Fathers and mothers don’t get to see their kids for extended periods of times. Some fathers even miss the first few months of a child’s life.

This piece isn’t meant to bring a tear to your eye or upset you. It’s meant to make you refocus, if only for a second, on what is really important.

Sports are our outlet, our safety blanket. Baseball, basketball, football, or whatever your niche is, will be there for you when you’ve had a bad day.

But let’s not forget, we have these things because of how fortunate we are to live in the United States. It’s a land that now boasts a fully volunteer military. Men and women put their lives on the line so we can enjoy the freedoms we so often take for granted. Here are just a few. Something unique, they all enlisted in their primes, they weren’t drafted. These athletes decided to go to the military at the height of their sports careers.

Ted Williams is one of the greatest ever to play baseball. However, he gave up five years of his illustrious career to serve his country. He enlisted in 1942 and would later become a flight instructor during World War II. He would be called back to duty at the age of 34. This time, he was active in the Korean War. He would fly 39 combat missions before developing an inner ear infection.

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Joe Louis, one of the greatest heavyweight boxers, enlisted as a private in the military’s segregated cavalry unit. Louis retained his title from 1937-1949 and would break the PGA color barrier in 1952 as the first black golfer to participate in a PGA-sanctioned event. But maybe more significant, he helped to expedite the slow process African-Americans would endure while trying to enter Officer Candidate School.

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Yogi Berra is one of the most iconic faces in baseball. His “Yogi-isms” are maybe even more famous than his face. But before he would become a famous New York Yankee, he served his country in the U.S. Navy. Berra was one of the thousands of men to serve during the D-Day invasions. He was a gunner’s mate just of the beaches of Normandy. He would return to the States and be selected to 15 All-Star Games.

Bobby Jones led one of the most incredible golfing careers we have seen. At 28 he retired from the PGA with nine wins, seven of which were majors. He gifted the game of golf with Augusta National Golf Club and from 1943-1945, Jones, an officer in the U.S. Army Air Forces, used Augusta National to help the war effort. He would raise cattle and turkey on the hallowed grounds.

Willie Davenport was famous for track and field, and eventually bobsledding. However, he spent a 21-year career in the military. He would become a colonel in the military before retiring. He would win a gold medal and a bronze medal in hurdles in 1968 and 1976 respectively. He would also compete in 1964 and 1972, placing as high as fourth. In 1980, he competed in the Winter Olympics as a part of the bobsleigh team.

Gil Hodges would hit 370 home runs in 18 seasons in the MLB. But that was after he received a Bronze Star and Combat Action Ribbon for serving as an anti-aircraft gunner in various battles including Okinawa and Tinian. He enrolled shortly after being drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers. He would return to the majors in 1946 and have a successful career.

Pat Tillman chose to give up a contract with the Arizona Cardinals ($3.6 million) and serve with the U.S. Army Rangers eight months after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. He would serve in both, Iraq and Afghanistan. On April 22, 2004, Tillman was killed in a friendly fire incident. Awarded with Silver Star and Purple Heart, his number was retired by the Arizona Cardinals and Arizona State University Sun Devils.

These athletes and many more were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Not only that, but they gave up valuable years as athletes. The record books would look a lot different, but I have a strong feeling that those athletes would have given up many more years to keep the country safe.

On this Veterans Day, thank someone you know. Pray for those you don’t. We love to use sports as an outlet for all the things in life. But today, and hopefully every day, thank the people that allow us to have that outlet. It’s the least we can do.